A review by boomcomplains
Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights by Ryu Mitsuse
2.0
(This review can be read properly formatted here at my sci-fi blog, Loving the Alien)
It’s touted as the greatest Japanese Science fiction novel of all time on the awesomely glow-in-the dark cover, and I’d like to agree or disagree, but my knowledge of Japanese science fiction tends to be limited to anime, and I don’t think that’s a fair thing to judge SF books by. So what I’m going to say is that I can’t have opinion on whether or not it was the greatest, I’m not entirely sure it’s science fiction, but I know that it is Japanese… so… at least I can definitively take a stand there.
So, let’s start out with the reasons why someone would want to read this:
1. Jesus is a super-cyborg assassin with a characterization that is only tentatively linked to what the New Testament is about.
And 2. …
Right. I’m a bit at a loss of what to say, and I think it’s because I’m just genuinely not used to my science fiction using historical characters and making them live weird double/triple/quadruple lives in different time periods. I’m also ill-equipped to deal with epic death battles between people like Siddhartha and Plato against Jesus, and have the Asura (generally thought of a group dieties) personified by a little girl who is actually fighting for humanity rather than destroying it...
...which even if you have just a very basic grasp of Hinduism, this ought to strike you as a bit odd. Kind of cool, but odd.
So, here’s the deal. When you buy this book, the description is about as enlightening as the ending is:
Ten billion days--that is how long it will take the philosopher Plato to determine the true systems of the world. One hundred billion nights--that is how far into the future he and Christ and Siddhartha will travel to witness the end of the world and also its fiery birth.
If you’re baffled at the plot described above, then you and I are on about equal footing and I’ve actually read the book.
Here is the actual plot: Something called Shi (for non-Japanese speakers who don’t get the significance of this word, that means “death” in Japanese) is trying to destroy all life on the planet via a whispering war against a benevolent “god” who only shows up last few pages in order to say how sorry it was that it didn’t.. I don't know… whisper hard enough or something.Shi sews the seeds of destruction in mankind via war, plague, and civil strife… and apparently Christianity.
…And the person against all of this is really Asura, who is the main character despite not being introduced until halfway through the novel.
Which brings me to my chief complaint, which is that this book is organized in a very bizarre way. It’s completely impossible to tell what’s important, what’s just random description (which is more often than not the case), and what is allegory. It’s also more than a little difficult to keep hold of a timeline as each character’s plot jumps around each other in haphazard directions and only converge in the final free-for-all that is the slow decay of society.
Strangely, as I describe this book, I find myself liking it… which I find slightly disconcerting seeing as I felt almost angry when I finished it.
Then I remind myself how hard it was to read, and how unsatisfactory it was to labor through. Problem solved.
So, let me just spell out how I really feel and stop describing what almost sounds like an awesome plot.
You need to appreciate the Japanese way of thinking in order to really find pleasure in this book. The lack of resolution is so poignant in this novel that it may leave the western reader feeling out of sorts and more than a little befuddled. Western readers, I feel, are used to feeling satisfied at the end of a story. The Japanese are not, and in a way, I find that it is beautiful concept if not a very Japanese one, and I enjoy it in most stories (particularly with Ryu Murakami).
I must concede, then, that I’ve steeped myself too deeply in western sci-fi culture, because my dislike for a book I find interesting at a conceptual level lies solely in the structure of the novel, and what I perceive to be gross misunderstandings of Greek philosophy, and the new testaments teachings.
On the other hand, it has a somewhat M. Night Shyamalan twist to moral concepts and philosophies that we deem peaceful (meaning that they lead to our ultimate destruction by the powers that be), so there is that… if only it wasn’t based in a somewhat skewed (read: Japanese) understanding of these ideas.
Thus, my suggestion must be this:
Read it, but be prepared to struggle.
It’s touted as the greatest Japanese Science fiction novel of all time on the awesomely glow-in-the dark cover, and I’d like to agree or disagree, but my knowledge of Japanese science fiction tends to be limited to anime, and I don’t think that’s a fair thing to judge SF books by. So what I’m going to say is that I can’t have opinion on whether or not it was the greatest, I’m not entirely sure it’s science fiction, but I know that it is Japanese… so… at least I can definitively take a stand there.
So, let’s start out with the reasons why someone would want to read this:
1. Jesus is a super-cyborg assassin with a characterization that is only tentatively linked to what the New Testament is about.
And 2. …
Right. I’m a bit at a loss of what to say, and I think it’s because I’m just genuinely not used to my science fiction using historical characters and making them live weird double/triple/quadruple lives in different time periods. I’m also ill-equipped to deal with epic death battles between people like Siddhartha and Plato against Jesus, and have the Asura (generally thought of a group dieties) personified by a little girl who is actually fighting for humanity rather than destroying it...
...which even if you have just a very basic grasp of Hinduism, this ought to strike you as a bit odd. Kind of cool, but odd.
So, here’s the deal. When you buy this book, the description is about as enlightening as the ending is:
Ten billion days--that is how long it will take the philosopher Plato to determine the true systems of the world. One hundred billion nights--that is how far into the future he and Christ and Siddhartha will travel to witness the end of the world and also its fiery birth.
If you’re baffled at the plot described above, then you and I are on about equal footing and I’ve actually read the book.
Here is the actual plot: Something called Shi (for non-Japanese speakers who don’t get the significance of this word, that means “death” in Japanese) is trying to destroy all life on the planet via a whispering war against a benevolent “god” who only shows up last few pages in order to say how sorry it was that it didn’t.. I don't know… whisper hard enough or something.Shi sews the seeds of destruction in mankind via war, plague, and civil strife… and apparently Christianity.
…And the person against all of this is really Asura, who is the main character despite not being introduced until halfway through the novel.
Which brings me to my chief complaint, which is that this book is organized in a very bizarre way. It’s completely impossible to tell what’s important, what’s just random description (which is more often than not the case), and what is allegory. It’s also more than a little difficult to keep hold of a timeline as each character’s plot jumps around each other in haphazard directions and only converge in the final free-for-all that is the slow decay of society.
Strangely, as I describe this book, I find myself liking it… which I find slightly disconcerting seeing as I felt almost angry when I finished it.
Then I remind myself how hard it was to read, and how unsatisfactory it was to labor through. Problem solved.
So, let me just spell out how I really feel and stop describing what almost sounds like an awesome plot.
You need to appreciate the Japanese way of thinking in order to really find pleasure in this book. The lack of resolution is so poignant in this novel that it may leave the western reader feeling out of sorts and more than a little befuddled. Western readers, I feel, are used to feeling satisfied at the end of a story. The Japanese are not, and in a way, I find that it is beautiful concept if not a very Japanese one, and I enjoy it in most stories (particularly with Ryu Murakami).
I must concede, then, that I’ve steeped myself too deeply in western sci-fi culture, because my dislike for a book I find interesting at a conceptual level lies solely in the structure of the novel, and what I perceive to be gross misunderstandings of Greek philosophy, and the new testaments teachings.
On the other hand, it has a somewhat M. Night Shyamalan twist to moral concepts and philosophies that we deem peaceful (meaning that they lead to our ultimate destruction by the powers that be), so there is that… if only it wasn’t based in a somewhat skewed (read: Japanese) understanding of these ideas.
Thus, my suggestion must be this:
Read it, but be prepared to struggle.